Cambridge School Volunteers Honors 2023 Volunteers in the City’s Public Schools

Cambridge School Volunteers Honors 2023 Volunteers in the City’s Public Schools
Posted on 04/28/2023
award photosTwo MIT Graduate Students Stand Out in Relating to Youth

Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV) marked the 45th anniversary of its tutoring center at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) and honored two outstanding volunteers with Mack I. Davis II Awards on April 13 at the Cambridge Public Library.

Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Victoria Greer delivered her appreciation to all CSV volunteers and three Cambridge Public Schools educators received the Kenneth S. Neal Award and particularly noted CSV’s contributions to CRLS student success through the tutoring center since 1978.

Eyob Kidus, a high school junior who worked with a CSV volunteer, emphasized to the audience at the ceremony that free tutoring was important. He added, “I think it's important for the first-generation Americans, born from immigrant parents, to understand that they have the tools they need to succeed.”

First-year volunteer Nived Kollanthara received a Mack I. Davis II Award from Cambridge School Volunteers for his dedication to his Reading Buddy, “Joseph,” at Fletcher Maynard Academy (FMA).

FMA second-grade teacher Darie Vil noticed early on “secure attachment” between the Nived and “Joseph,” whom she said needed this one-to-one attention. She says “Nived was always attentive and always responsive to ‘Joseph’,” and has “made him really excited about reading.”

CSV’s Learning Center Program at the district’s upper school’s reached a ten-year anniversary this year.

MIT graduate student Eliza Price also won one of CSV’s two 2023 Mack I Davis II Awards this year. Her “ability to connect with upper school students is astounding to watch,” said Lovleen Judson, CSV’s after-school learning center coordinator at Cambridge Street Upper School, introducing her. Eliza has also volunteered as a tutor to high school students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Eliza’s reliability and upbeat demeanor was one reason she was chosen to pilot a tutoring program at the Cambridge Public Library’s teen room this spring. Eliza is a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering.

CSV awarded its Kenneth S. Neal Award for CPS educators to a trio this year. Jay Mahoney (Rindge Ave Upper School) Jackie Montminy (Cambridge St. Upper School), and Annabelle Tarek (Putnam Ave Upper School) are seventh-grade science teachers who collaborate with Cambridge School Volunteers to provide STEM mentorship to entire grade cohorts in the seventh grade. The Kenny Neal award has been given since 2005 to a Cambridge Public School teacher or administrator who has shown exceptional and sustained commitment to a CSV program and its volunteers.

Cambridge School Volunteers celebrated 25-years of volunteering on the part of two employees of Volpe Transportation Center (U.S. Department of Transportation), Sarah May and David Phinney. Both are Reading Buddies at the Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary School in East Cambridge. Sarah is also the coordinator of the Reading Buddies program on behalf of Volpe, a corporate partner of CSV.

Two volunteers reached their 20-year milestone—Paul Fernandes and Alan Rao, both Reading Buddies who work for Volpe US DOT.

Three volunteers reached their 15-year milestone: Ricardo Maldonado (volunteering at Amigos School/Escuela Amigos as an Upper School Learning Center and previously as a Reading Buddy), Sara Secunda (a Reading Buddy who works for Volpe US DOT), and Judith Rosen (an CSV Elementary Literacy Program Volunteer), have reached 15-year volunteering milestones this year.

Three additional Volpe employees—Olivia Gilham, Rebecca Hovey, and David Moore—have reached a decade of volunteering.

CRLS student contributions to the event also included performances by the CRLS Modern Dance Company and the Jazz Combo, and cookies and fruit platters prepared by the Rindge School of Technical Arts (RSTA) culinary students.

CSV has selected individuals for volunteer and educator awards annually for the past 29 years.

More details and the full list of volunteers marking milestones >>

PHOTOS
Top (left-right): CSV Executive Director Meg Ramsdell, CSV Volunteer and Mack I. Davis II Award Winner Eliza Price, CSV Director of High School Programs Megan Andres, and CSV Learning Center Coordinator (CSUS) Lovleen Judson.
Bottom (left-right):  L–R CSV Volunteer and Mack I. Davis II Award Winner Nived Kollanthara and CSV Elementary Literacy Program Manager Sally Peterson



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